Who Stole Forever?
we do not live in the center of the universe, and that life moves by the will and purpose of Another. The instan- taneous, self-serving, me obsession of our culture never results in inner peace and contentment. Eternity con- fronts me with the realities that transcend my momen- tary wants, feelings, and needs. 3. Asking too much of people. When we fail to live with forever in view, we unwittingly and consistently ask the people around us to provide the paradise for which our hearts crave. The people around us do not have the ability to give us, in the here and now, that constant inner peace and satisfaction that we can only ever experience in eter- nity. Asking others to give us what they cannot give ends in disappointment, frustration, conflict, and division. 4. Being controlling or fearful. Why do we tend to swing from fear to control and back again? Because, in our eternity amnesia, we feel as if somehow, someway, life is passing us by. Those unfilled longings, which none of us escape, do not so much announce to us that this world has failed us, but rather they alert us to the fact that we were designed for another world. Peace in this world is found only when we live with the coming world in view. 5. Questioning the goodness of God. If we don’t understand God’s agenda, we will tend to end up questioning his character. Unless we live in the knowledge that God’s promises only reach their fulfillment in the world that is to come, we will feel as if we have been hit with the cosmic bait and switch in the world we now live in. We get a taste of God’s good gifts in the here and now to keep us hun- gering for the full meal that is waiting for us in eternity. 6. Living more disappointed than thankful. Unrealistic expectations will always lead to disappointment. Many of us are disappointed, not because God has failed us, or we have suffered much, or the people around us have
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